yooper2001
Established
Ya mean this ain't normal??
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police e-bike crackdown
- Thread starter raylo32
- Start date
offGridDownUnder
Power poster
Alas, it is.
Memories from my youth as a young contractor working full weekend days mowing neighborhood lawns with a gas mower, let me tell you that breathing (unavoidable) the noxious fumes emitted from the (non-emissions regulated) engines was extremely unpleasant after the second or third lawn (headaches and dullness), probably increasing the probabilities of future cancer or other lung diseases.
So I would argue for electric mowers for a contractor, just purely on a health basis.
When I was younger I'd make a point of passing people in Spandex.That's what I've always done, even when living down in the city. I rode once or twice a week for exercise, the short ride down along a bikeway to the long bikeway that paralleled the freeway *choke* *choke* and the long ride early early Sunday morning. On Sunday I kept as much as possible to the back roads. If I was on a major road I'd do the footpath if it seemed advisable and cut around traffic lights. I'd often see large packs of racers, sometimes piled up at the lights waiting, or blasting through stop signs like they weren't there. We all blow the odd Stop sign but when 50 riders in succession do it at speed it sends a message hey.
Every non-cyclist I spoke to hated the racer packs, and cyclists in general. The riders would scream at drivers if they came within one meter of them, a bike safety law, but brush car mirrors in passing if the flow of traffic wasn't fast enough for the Strava time they were chasing. There was a direct correlation too between the dislike and the cloths you wore too. Look like an average Joe in a tanktop and shorts out getting exercise, fine. Ride dressed in multi-colored Lycra and look out
Record is 4 in the length of the ride I was doing.
Yeah, I know how to tweak gears and do tires and things like that.
And a little of the electric stuff too, now. Back then it was just crankin' it.
53 elliptical and a racing cluster that was really tight. Pretty sure it was 28-10
I remember the gear changes felt harder back in those days.
Now it's really like 4 gears, low, a little faster, medium (pretty fast), and slam it home and hope it doesn't bog.
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OlderGiantFan
Regular
Well in a perfect world, of course. But there are only so many middleclass Greenies that will subsidize battery lawnmowing contractors, and only so many eco-fanatics willing to use them commercially. Like I said, I did as a job for 25 years, mowing a book of 80 lawns at the peak and I'm still here cycling. Statistically speaking motorists kill more cyclists than gas lawnmowers, but that doesn't stop us riding
OlderGiantFan
Regular
I have a dash cam I took 10 years ago of a scooter doing 70km/h out of a Brisbane suburban shopping center. I know cause I paced him. I wasn't so amazed, it was the sort of stuff I did as a kid, or would have done if the gear was there. I used to grab the tie rail at the back of semi trailers -behind the wheels- to get a lift up long hills. They'll grow out of it.
Mattbastard
New-ish here
Meh, he had a helmet on. 
I can't blame the guy, traffic in Honolulu sucks!
I can't blame the guy, traffic in Honolulu sucks!
aroundqube
Regular
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2012
- Messages
- 677
The Safe Speeds Act ( proposed US Federal Legislation ) https://www.bicycleretailer.com/sites/default/files/downloads/article/hr_7839_bicycleretailer.pdf
OlderGiantFan
Regular
laws are for people who can't weigh risks for themselves.
yooper2001
Established
Laws are for people too stupid to realize the consequences of their actions
Apartunis
Regular
Laws are also for people who do not care how their actions negatively affect others. It seems like most laws fall into this category.
aroundqube
Regular
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2012
- Messages
- 677
California prosecutors charge parents with child abuse following e-moto crash " e- Motos " are bringing on the e-Bike regulation backlash . I say it's not a " motor vehicle ' problem. The ever growing problem is operator behavior .
OlderGiantFan
Regular
If it doesn't have pedals and a chain it's not an ebike it's an electric bike. It's like scooters, petrol powered ones, they aren't motorcycles though they include them in the stats. I wonder how many of the deaths attributed to motorcycles are those of people getting squashed on a scooter because they couldn't get out of the way fast enough. Speed, power, it's saved my neck more than once.
gromike
Power poster
"To require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate a consumer product safety standard for the uniform classification and labeling of certain electric bicycles and other off-road electric devices, and for other purposes."
That law might be all well and good, but for me I prefer to be my own Consumer Product Safety Commission.
As long as we can still get the motors we want--we will ride free.
rwag77
New here
I am going to chime in on this thread. I am a newbie here, but this is a topic I follow a great deal locally. I have been riding my e-bike back and forth to work for about 4 years. The only days I do not are when it is going to be wet (If I am smart enough to check the weather that day) or if I have plans after work. Whether it is 20 or 100 degrees, I am riding my bike. I have a car, but smoked for 35 years, and at 55, I decided to quit and get healthy. Riding my bike mainly in PA makes me feel better and keeps my BP down. Saying all that, my bike is an old Airborne Zeppelin titanium bike with a BBS02B 750W Bafang mid-drive. Before I added the mid-drive, it weighed 19.5 pounds. I have a 6.4-mile ride one-way to work. The fastest I have completed it was 16:55.
I pass in front of one of the police stations in my county twice a day. I ride on the road. I obey most of the laws that a vehicle does. I blow through stop signs in my subdivision, which is about 1.5 miles of my trip. If I use PA only, I can reach speeds of 33-35 on level ground, almost 40 going downhill, and going up the only hill I have on my ride, I will go down to high teens or low 20s. Depending on the run, I got going down into the valley.
I have been stopped 2 times. Both times were when I was on the downhill run on my ride. Riding the same speed as the cars is why I am guessing they stopped me. 40 MPH speed limit. Both of the officers who pulled me over knew that I could not have more than a 750W motor for my bike to remain a level 3 bike. I have been following the laws here in GA and metro Atlanta because I actually want a 1200W or higher ebike with PA. Georgia uses the three-class e-bike system and generally treats compliant e-bikes like bicycles on public roads. Anything higher requires to change drivers license and inspections. That would stop me from being able to jump on the sidewalk when there is backed-up traffic. The last 3 miles heading to work can be bumper to bumper on the 2 days a week when I have to open the store. According to the law, I can jump on the sidewalk then because of the situation. Hard to start to pedal a bike when traffic is stopped on a big hill and only moving 1 car length each time.
I work right in the middle of Snob East Cobb in metro Atlanta. (I grew up in this area, and I am just calling it like I see it.) Most of the kids have e-bikes, stand-up scooters, and electric dirt bikes. Most of them FLY. I mean, fly. I am an assistant manager in retail. I work in a small shopping center connected to a huge shopping center. What these kids do every day scares me. They fly in and out of cars in the shopping center. I cannot even begin to tell you how many near accidents I see almost daily. From what I see and hear from the police, it is those things that are going to get tougher restrictions on e-bikes. Either the parent does not see, or they ignore. Considering the shopping center has the only grocery store for 3 miles in a heavy residential area, as well as a home center and other stores, all the parents have to shop close. They have to see what happens, but still buy their kids these incredibly fast machines with no kind of supervision.
Now, I will also add that the cars I deal with are not any better. In GA, you must remain 3ft away from a bike while passing it on the road. If there is a turning lane or a second lane, you are supposed to use it to pass. The last 2/3 of my ride to and 1st 2/3 of the ride home, there is a center turning lane. I put a bunch of clips together that I took from my GoPro and posted on YouTube. There are a few clips that, if I had not been riding and just seen the video, I would think that the person riding was actually side-swiped by the car. I told one guy he was number 1 to me with my middle finger because he was so close. He actually stopped in the street, wanting to fight me. I told him he was too fat and out of shape for me to even acknowledge his request, but I was sure the police would like to see my video of him passing me as I rode past him. The second time he passed me, he was all the way in the other lane. I have had a Tesle who was behind me at one of the two traffic lights I have on my trip to get on the sidewalk where I belong. I was holding him up. I told him owning a nice car does not mean you have common sense. Why are there 5 signs in 3 miles on that stretch of road that tell him to "share the road"? Technically, I am not allowed on the sidewalk in normal conditions is what I explained. He said he was a lawyer, and I was wrong. LOL.. Wonder where his clients end up.
If you add the teens and the other drivers I have expirenced together, something has to be done. I might not like the results but something has to give or we will have more deaths.
I pass in front of one of the police stations in my county twice a day. I ride on the road. I obey most of the laws that a vehicle does. I blow through stop signs in my subdivision, which is about 1.5 miles of my trip. If I use PA only, I can reach speeds of 33-35 on level ground, almost 40 going downhill, and going up the only hill I have on my ride, I will go down to high teens or low 20s. Depending on the run, I got going down into the valley.
I have been stopped 2 times. Both times were when I was on the downhill run on my ride. Riding the same speed as the cars is why I am guessing they stopped me. 40 MPH speed limit. Both of the officers who pulled me over knew that I could not have more than a 750W motor for my bike to remain a level 3 bike. I have been following the laws here in GA and metro Atlanta because I actually want a 1200W or higher ebike with PA. Georgia uses the three-class e-bike system and generally treats compliant e-bikes like bicycles on public roads. Anything higher requires to change drivers license and inspections. That would stop me from being able to jump on the sidewalk when there is backed-up traffic. The last 3 miles heading to work can be bumper to bumper on the 2 days a week when I have to open the store. According to the law, I can jump on the sidewalk then because of the situation. Hard to start to pedal a bike when traffic is stopped on a big hill and only moving 1 car length each time.
I work right in the middle of Snob East Cobb in metro Atlanta. (I grew up in this area, and I am just calling it like I see it.) Most of the kids have e-bikes, stand-up scooters, and electric dirt bikes. Most of them FLY. I mean, fly. I am an assistant manager in retail. I work in a small shopping center connected to a huge shopping center. What these kids do every day scares me. They fly in and out of cars in the shopping center. I cannot even begin to tell you how many near accidents I see almost daily. From what I see and hear from the police, it is those things that are going to get tougher restrictions on e-bikes. Either the parent does not see, or they ignore. Considering the shopping center has the only grocery store for 3 miles in a heavy residential area, as well as a home center and other stores, all the parents have to shop close. They have to see what happens, but still buy their kids these incredibly fast machines with no kind of supervision.
Now, I will also add that the cars I deal with are not any better. In GA, you must remain 3ft away from a bike while passing it on the road. If there is a turning lane or a second lane, you are supposed to use it to pass. The last 2/3 of my ride to and 1st 2/3 of the ride home, there is a center turning lane. I put a bunch of clips together that I took from my GoPro and posted on YouTube. There are a few clips that, if I had not been riding and just seen the video, I would think that the person riding was actually side-swiped by the car. I told one guy he was number 1 to me with my middle finger because he was so close. He actually stopped in the street, wanting to fight me. I told him he was too fat and out of shape for me to even acknowledge his request, but I was sure the police would like to see my video of him passing me as I rode past him. The second time he passed me, he was all the way in the other lane. I have had a Tesle who was behind me at one of the two traffic lights I have on my trip to get on the sidewalk where I belong. I was holding him up. I told him owning a nice car does not mean you have common sense. Why are there 5 signs in 3 miles on that stretch of road that tell him to "share the road"? Technically, I am not allowed on the sidewalk in normal conditions is what I explained. He said he was a lawyer, and I was wrong. LOL.. Wonder where his clients end up.
If you add the teens and the other drivers I have expirenced together, something has to be done. I might not like the results but something has to give or we will have more deaths.
aroundqube
Regular
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2012
- Messages
- 677
Another parent arrested for child endangerment after crash critically injures Vietnam veteran
SANTA ANA, Calif. (BRAIN) — A mother has been charged with felony child endangerment after her 14-year-old son riding an e-moto critically injured an 81-year-old Vietnam veteran. It's the latest arrest of a parent in California for allowing access to an e-moto that resulted in a crash.
www.bicycleretailer.com
Apartunis
Regular
My ex's nephew who was technically old enough to be legally responsible brained himself on a Surron a few years ago and still can't speak or take care of himself. At least that was self inflicted.Another parent arrested for child endangerment after crash critically injures Vietnam veteran
SANTA ANA, Calif. (BRAIN) — A mother has been charged with felony child endangerment after her 14-year-old son riding an e-moto critically injured an 81-year-old Vietnam veteran. It's the latest arrest of a parent in California for allowing access to an e-moto that resulted in a crash.
My thinking is motorcycles are motorcycles no matter what they run on. License and registration please.
OlderGiantFan
Regular
Regulation, can't live with it, can't live without it.
Apartunis
Regular
We already have regulation. But the brain dead scum in charge of enforcing it are not into doing they only job they have. They would rather harass and assault brown skinned people.
Some socal school districts will prohibit ebikes from middle school and lower grades. Additionally, bills are in the system to reduce the speed of Classes 1 & 2 bikes to 16 mph and power from 750w to 250. Of course, there's nothing about how the laws are policed which seems to happen only when there's an accident with a serious injury or fatality.
themountain
New here
Welcome to Europe
gromike
Power poster
...and Japan too. What other countries?
themountain
New here
China ...
OlderGiantFan
Regular
Australia.
The main problem with ebikes is there is no ongoing government revenue stream, no fuel excise, no registration fees. They are a bit like building a small cabin in the woods on federal or state land.
It'll be interesting if it passes since manufacturers will need to make different bikes for CA than the rest of the country. I think one of the bills doesn't allow "faster" bikes to be manufactured or sold here. So what about the existing bikes? I don't think they can make the law(s) retroactive, and how will they be able to distinguish old from new? Fortunately I don't care since I ride off road and there's nobody around.
